How to feed bird chicks. What if the chick falls out of the nest? How to save? Where to keep the chick? Cage, box, nest, basket

Tips for those in whose hands the chick fell

This text is addressed to those into whose hands one way or another fell a wild bird chick. Of course, we believe that none of you will deliberately take the chick out of the nest. But, despite numerous publications on the topic in popular sources, every year people come here with the same, in principle, questions: "We picked up a chick, and now what to do with it?" In ninety-eight cases out of a hundred, the most correct thing that you could do when you see a chick on the road is to move away and not touch it in any way.
If the chick is small and screams loudly, this does not mean that his parents abandoned him. They are sure to be somewhere nearby. In passerine birds, for example, chicks leave the nest when they are only two weeks old. They do not yet know how to fly and are unable to fly long distances. The same nightingale builds a nest on the ground, and therefore the chicks, having left the nest, for at least two weeks rather quickly run on the grass “on foot”. You can help a chick that sits dangerously close to people, cats, dogs and cars by gently moving it to the branches of trees or shrubs nearby. Parents will definitely find him. You can try to return a swallow or swift chick to the roof, closer to the nest of the intended parents.
However, there are situations from which there is no way out, except to take the chick into your care. Let's say that some well-wisher picked him up a long time ago and now asks you for help, because he himself cannot cope. Or the parents of the chicks, who now have no one to feed, died. Or, with all your desire, you cannot return the chick within the reach of the parents (swifts, swallows).
So you have a problem. You brought the chick home, but you do not know where to keep it or what to feed it. The chick may be screeching loudly and not taking food from your hands. When you, having worn out, get tired and want to return the chick to nature, then you will doom the chick to certain death. A human-fed bird will not survive in the wild. Therefore, be prepared for the fact that, with very few exceptions, you must provide the bird with food and shelter for its entire bird life. All daylight hours of the day you will have to regularly not only give the chick food, but feed him until he is satisfied. It is very simple to determine that the chick is full - it stops opening its mouth, begging for food.
Attention! Birds have a very high metabolic rate. A starving chick literally burns up internal resources. It is enough to leave it without food for 3 - 6 hours (during daylight hours), the chick will die in a day or two due to metabolic disorders. After eating, the chick begins to back away, puts its tail over the edge of the nest and defecates. In nature, one of the parents picks up the excrement "capsule" and carries it away from the nest so as not to unmask it. The quality of the "capsule" can be an indication of the correct interval between feedings. If you feed the chick too often, the protein coat does not form on the "capsule" and the droppings blur.
How and what to feed.
Most songbirds (this is a generally accepted ornithological term, this includes almost all small birds, with the exception of predators, planktivorous birds and waterfowl. Accordingly, sparrows, and nightingales, and tits, and larks and even corvids) feed their chicks with insects. This means that the food should be the same as for an adult carnivorous bird. It should include: ant cocoons (usually called eggs), mealworms, fly larvae, chicken eggs, cottage cheese and carrots, as well as vitamin and mineral supplements. Chicks can be raised only on live ant cocoons, but they will not succeed only on one chicken egg or any other substitute.
A nutrient mixture is used to feed the fledglings of passerine birds. A boiled chicken egg is grated. Boiled chicken or beef is chopped with a knife. Greens are also crushed, for example, lettuce, wood lice, dandelion leaves (but by no means spicy herbs!). Rub the carrots on a fine grater and squeeze the juice out of it slightly ("wet" carrots can cause diarrhea in the chick). Instead of an egg, you can add cottage cheese, but low-fat and non-acidic. If the curd is sour, it must be scalded with boiling water. All ingredients are mixed. The mixture adds minerals (calcium glycerophosphate, phytin), multivitamins (a little, an overdose is dangerous!) And grated white crackers. The mixture is made for one day and stored in the refrigerator, but not in the freezer. From the mixture, balls are made, convenient for feeding - with a match head.
It is convenient to give food from tweezers. It should be ensured that the chick opens its mouth from the very first feeding. To do this, holding tweezers, lightly shake the "nest", imitating the arrival of the parent-breadwinner. Or they touch the plumage of the head, the edges of the beak with tweezers. Sometimes a slight click on the beak helps. The younger the chick, the easier it is to develop in him a begging reaction to the approaching tweezers, since with age, a concealing reaction occurs to unfamiliar objects, and then flight. If you cannot force the chick to open the beak by any means, then the first feeding is done by force, opening the beak with your fingers (it is better to do this for a woman who has half-long nails - you can carefully pick up the upper half of the chick's beak with the edge of the nail. Then you need to take a crumb of food directly on your finger, and how to "wipe" it on the bottom half of the chick's beak from the inside - author). However, attempts should continue to accustom the chick to tweezers. Then, at the age of 15 - 17 days, you need to start accustoming the chick to eating independently. To do this, a little feed is scattered on the floor of the cage. After the chick begins to peck from the floor, the food is placed in the trough. However, feeding with tweezers continues until the chick learns to eat its fill by itself. From that time on, he was placed in a more spacious cage in which he could run and fly.
Don't forget to water your chick. The easiest way to do this is with a pipette. After each ball of food - 1-2 drops from a pipette. It is enough to put the pipette to the tip of the beak without opening it. You should drink only water, you can boiled it.
Since the chick needs to be fed very often, you need to either constantly be with it, or carry it with you. Until he is small and does not run away, you can put him in a small box.
When the chick grows up, it is necessary, based on whether it is a granivorous bird or an insectivorous bird, to adjust its diet.
It is impossible to feed a granivorous bird with only one kind of seeds. When kept in captivity, the basis of nutrition of domestic granivorous birds is a grain mixture consisting of canary seeds (“canary seed”), flaxseed and millet (it is better to use light) - approximately in equal proportions.
Oatmeal - whole, not flattened - is readily eaten by most granivores.
Lettuce seeds - preferably light colored, perfectly eaten by all birds. Good, harmless food.
Spruce and pine seeds are one of the best food for all forest birds in our fauna. Especially desirable for beetles, crossbills, siskins. Unlike sunflower seeds, they do not cause obesity and metabolic disorders.
Hemp is a common and favorite food for birds, but it can be “spoiled” for a bird. She will stop eating other food, and her metabolism may be disturbed.
Sunflower is a high-calorie oily food. It can be given to birds in larger quantities without harmful effects than cannabis. Crushed sunflower with shells is an excellent addition to a surrogate mixture for insectivorous birds.
Dandelion seeds are loved by all granivorous birds.
Plantain seeds are eaten by all granivores, larks and some insectivorous birds. Collection - manually.
Seeds of meadow grasses, mainly cereals, are excellent for all granivores.
Green forages serve as a source of vitamins and minerals. Young shoots of spruce, larch, deciduous trees, greens of cereals, legumes, woodlice, yarrow, dandelion, lettuce, spinach and even Tradescantia are given as green fodder.
Their root crops are mainly used for carrots. Slices and grated carrots are readily eaten by almost all birds.
Berry food and fruits are nutritious, contain many vitamins and minerals.
For insectivorous birds, as for all chicks, the mixture already described should form the basis of food. It is supplemented with meat, chicken, cottage cheese and even cheese, as well as live food and gammarus.
Home improvement.
If you had to take on the education of a fledgling chick at the age of 4 - 5 days, then the first two - three days it will need heating. You can make it out of a heating pad or fill a flat bottle with warm water. Starting from 8 - 12 days of age, the chicks have a desire to leave the "nest", and from that time it will have to be placed in a small cage. Regardless of where your chick lives, it needs warm, dry bedding. For this purpose, you can take dry soft grass or moss. (You can use paper napkins torn into quarters - auth.) Cotton wool cannot be used - the chick can get entangled in it or swallow.
Songbirds are extremely voracious creatures for their size, so a feeder with food should always be in their room. It should be remembered that wild-born birds require much more spacious “apartments” than those accustomed to cages for many generations. A fairly universal principle for determining a sufficient cage size states that the distance between perches located at opposite ends of the room should be such that the bird cannot jump from one to the other without using its wings.

Chicks that have fallen out of the nest are quite common in spring. Their unhappy squeak awakens the maternal instinct even in the hardest of hearts. It's natural that you want to pick up a chick and go out. But before you do this, you need to spend some time assessing the situation and making sure you are doing the very best for the chick. Was he actually abandoned? Are there centers nearby that could provide better care for him? If you choose to feed your chick on your own, it is important that you understand the responsibility you are taking on yourself. Chicks are very delicate creatures that need to be fed almost constantly. If you think you're ready for it, this article will tell you everything you need to know about raising and caring for your chick.

Steps

Assessment of the situation

Determine if the chick belongs to immature-born or mature-born (brood) birds. Immature birds are those in which chicks hatch blind, without feathers and completely dependent on their parents for food and warmth. Most passerines and songbirds are immature-born, such as robins, jays, cardinals. Breeding birds are more developed at the time of hatching, they are born sighted, have soft fluffy feathers. They are able to walk and immediately begin to follow their mother, collecting food along the way. Examples of such birds are plovers, ducks, geese.

Determine if the chick has fledged or not yet. If you find an immature-born bird that you suspect has fallen out of the nest or has been abandoned, you must determine if it is fledging or not. Fledglings are too immature to leave the nest, they may have undeveloped feathers and even have their eyes not open. Fledging chicks are older, they have developed feathers and are strong enough to learn to fly. They can leave the nest and know how to sit and hold on to branches.

If possible, put the chick back in the nest. If you are sure that the chick you met has not yet fledged and is lying helplessly on the ground, there is probably an opportunity to bring it back to the nest. First, see if you can see nests in a nearby tree or bush. It can be well hidden or in a hard-to-reach place. Then grab the chick with one hand from below, covering the other from above, hold it there until it gets warm. Inspect it for damage, if everything is in order, carefully return it to the socket.

Make a substitute nest, if necessary. Sometimes even entire nests can fall due to strong winds, tree pruning or predators. If this is your case, you may be able to save the nest (or make a new one) and place the chicks there. If the original nest still hasn't fallen apart, you can place it in a berry basket or oiler (with holes for drainage) and use some wire to hang the nest from a branch. Try to secure the socket in its original place. If this is not possible, the branch closest to it will do. Just make sure the selected area is covered and not in direct sunlight.

• Collect fallen chicks and warm them with your hands before placing them in the nest. Leave the area, but try to keep an eye on the nest from afar. Parents may find it suspicious of another nest instead of the old one, but the instinct of caring for the offspring should help them overcome doubts.
• If the original nest is completely destroyed, you can make a new one by placing paper towels on the bottom of the basket. Even if the original nest was made of grass, you should not line the nest you made with grass, as it contains moisture and can overcool the chicks.

1. If you are sure that the chicks are abandoned, try to find a rehabilitation center. It is important to establish reliably the fact that the chicks are abandoned before collecting them. The most common situations in which chicks need help are: when you find a fledgling chick but cannot locate or reach the nest; when a fallen chick is injured, weak or dirty; when you watched the replacement nest for more than two hours and the parents did not return to feed the chicks.

Feeding a chick

Feed the chick every 15-20 minutes from sunrise to sunset. Chicks are very demanding on feeding schedules, and their parents make hundreds of food travels every day. To recreate this feeding schedule, you must feed the chick every 15-20 minutes from sunrise to sunset.

• When the chick opens its eyes and it has several feathers, you can extend the feeding intervals to 30-45 minutes. Then you can gradually increase the amount of food given per feeding and reduce the number of feedings accordingly.
• When the chick is strong enough to get out of the nest and starts jumping around the box in which it is located, you can feed it about once an hour. You can gradually reduce this time to 1 feed every 2-3 hours and start leaving food pieces in the box for the chick to pick up on its own.

1. Know what to feed your chick. There are various food options for the chick to consume, however, most experts say that as long as the chick is getting the nutrients it needs, what kind of food it is fed is not critical. Even different kinds adult birds have different diets, most chicks have very similar requirements, they need food rich in protein.

   • The ideal starter diet for a newly hatched chick consists of 60% puppy or kitten food, 20% hard-boiled eggs, and an additional 20% mealworms (available for purchase).
   • The food for puppies or kittens should be soaked until it reaches a spongy consistency, however, it should not drip from it, as the chick may choke due to excess water. Boiled eggs and mealworms should be finely chopped so that the chick can swallow them.

2. Start changing your diet as your chick grows up. As the chick starts to grow up and bounce around the box, you can start changing its diet to match what it should eat as an adult.

   • Insectivorous birds will eat earthworms, grasshoppers, and crickets, which must be cut into small pieces together with whatever insects you can find in the insect trap.
   • Birds that prefer to eat fruit will eat berries, grapes, and raisins soaked in water.

3. Know which bird species require a specific diet. Exceptions to the above diet include pigeons, parrots, hummingbirds, fish-eating birds, birds of prey and any chicks of mature-born birds.

   • Pigeons and parrots usually eat the so-called "bird's milk" - a substance that the mother regurgitates. To recreate it, you will have to feed these chicks with a composition for feeding parrots (you can buy it at a pet store) from a syringe without a needle.
   • Despite the fact that it is unlikely that you will meet other species of birds, their needs are as follows: hummingbirds need a special nectar diet, birds that eat fish need small-cut small fish (you can buy it in a fish store), birds of prey need insects, rodents and small chicks, and mature-born chicks will thrive on a turkey diet.

4. Do not feed chicks with bread or milk. Many people make the mistake of feeding their chicks with bread or milk. Unlike mammals, milk is not part of the diet of birds, they will not be able to feed on it. And bread is full of empty calories and won't provide the chick with the nutrients it needs to survive. You should also ensure that the food you feed to the chick is at room temperature.

5. Use the correct feeding technique. Feeding chicks should be very careful. The best tool is blunt tweezers or a plastic clip. If you don't have either one, fine Chinese sticks (thin enough for the chick's mouth) will do. To feed the chick, take some food with a pair of tweezers, a clip, or Chinese chopsticks and dip it into the chick's mouth.

   • Do not be afraid that the chick will choke, the glottis in birds closes automatically during feeding.
   • If the chick does not open its beak, tap it slightly with your feeding tool or rub the edge of the beak with food. This will be a signal to him that it is time for feeding. If the chick still does not open its beak, do it carefully yourself.
   • Continue feeding the chick until it stops opening its beak or begins to refuse food. It is important not to overfeed the chick.

6. Avoid giving the chick water. Chicks usually do not consume water, as water can enter the lungs and suffocate them. They can only be given water when they are old enough and start jumping on the box. At this stage, you can place a shallow container of water (such as a can lid) in the box for the chick to drink on its own.

   • You can place a rock or a couple of marble pieces in a container of water to keep the bird from sitting in the water.
   • If you think the chick is dehydrated, you will need to bring it to your veterinarian who can administer the necessary fluid injections.

Caring for a chick

1. Make a temporary nest for the chick. The best way making a substitute nest is the use of cardboard box for example from shoes in which you have to make a number of holes. Place a small plastic or wooden bowl in the box and line it with unpainted paper towels. This will be a great cozy nest for a chick.

   • Never line the nest with fibrous or shredded bedding, as it can wrap around the legs and wings or get caught in the chick's throat. You should also avoid using grass, leaves, moss, as they can be soggy and mold easily.
   • You should change the litter in the nest as soon as it becomes damp or dirty.

2. Keep the chick warm. If the chick is damp or cold, you should warm it up as soon as you place it in the box. It can be done different ways... If you have a heating pad, you can set it to a low temperature and place the box on top of it. Alternatively, you can use a zip-lock bag by pouring warm water into it and placing it in a box; or hang a 40-watt lamp over the box.

   • It is very important to maintain a constant temperature in the nest, so it is best to place a thermometer in the box. If the chick is less than a week old (he is blind, without feathers), the temperature should be about 35 degrees. It can be lowered by 3 degrees every week.
   • It is important to keep the box of chicks out of direct sunlight and drafts. Small chicks are very susceptible to hypothermia and overheating, since they have a fairly large body surface in relation to their weight, and they have not yet developed thermal insulation of feathers.

3. Create a stress-free environment for the chick. Chicks cannot survive if they are not kept in a calm, stress-free environment. Under stress, chicks have a significantly increased heart rate, which is dangerous for their health. As a result, it is necessary to keep the box quiet, out of reach of children and pets. You should also avoid exposing the chick to the following:

   • Excessive or improper grip, loud noises, abnormal temperatures, overcrowding (if you have more than one chick), inadequate feeding or poor diet.
   • You should try to keep the bird at eye level to observe it, as birds do not like being looked down on from above. Content at eye level makes you look less like a predator to them.

Budgerigars are the most popular birds for home keeping. A variety of colors, a cheerful, playful disposition will give good mood any owner. Caring for them is not difficult, nutrition does not cause difficulties, but with chicks not everything is simple. The usual offspring of budgerigars is 3–12 babies, hatched 18 days after oviposition, subject to temperature conditions and maintaining the required air humidity. Occasionally, two chicks may hatch from one egg. First, the testicles that are laid first hatch. At hatching, the baby weighs about 1 gram. Each owner who decides to start breeding birds for the first time is concerned about how to feed not only an adult bird, but also small chicks. Proper care, maintenance, a competent diet are important for health, long happy life pets.

For a year, a pair of budgies can hatch offspring 4 times. This should not be allowed: the female's body is depleted.

Small birds feed on a special substance in the form of a slimy mass with an admixture of almost liquid pieces of food and protein-rich milk produced in the goiter or gizzard of the mother. After two to three days, grain, partially digested in the goiter, is added to the milk.

With the birth of babies, they are defenseless, completely dependent on their parents. The female takes care of, feeds the cubs from the beak, turning each one on its back, regardless of their number and timing of hatching. If the female's diet contains a sufficient amount of germinated cereals, then the mixture for feeding the babies is completely enough. Over time, the grown older birds receive grain food from the goiter, the remaining milk goes to the babies who hatched last. There are times when the father feeds the offspring together with the mother, in whose goiter the grain is also processed. Intensive feeding of the parrots supplies them with all the essential nutrients and enzymes to keep their digestive tract running smoothly.

The owner of the parrots must provide a full menu to the parents, changing the diet in a timely manner. It is recommended to constantly add egg mixture, sprouted grains, greens to food.

After flying out of the nest, the babies go completely under the care of the male, at this time the mother prepares for the next clutch. The feeding period lasts 1.5 months, after which the youngsters become independent from their parents and begin to feed on their own.

Artificial feeding

Sometimes situations occur when the female abandons her children, and the owners themselves have to fulfill the role of the parents of the parrots, feeding them without the help of their real father and mother.

It is important to know that if a newly hatched chick does not eat for more than 12 hours, it may die.

Reasons for switching to artificial nutrition at home:

• large offspring, parents cannot cope with providing food for all children;
• aggression of the female, refusal to feed the cubs. Why this is happening is difficult to answer. Perhaps she lacks or has not yet woken up maternal instinct. Maybe the reason was that you took a barely born chick in your arms or some other shock for the parrot;
• the baby loses appetite, and he is not able to feed on his own;
• quarantine or illness of the crumbs, requiring the separation of the sick parrot for the duration of treatment from the rest of the birds;
• death of parents;
• the female is ready to make the next clutch, the offspring becomes a hindrance to her.

It's important to know: deprivation of food for a barely born chick for more than 12 hours is critical, it can cause death. It is necessary to remember this period and have time to prepare food. Sometimes the remaining one chick can be planted by an outside pair of parrots or other species of birds. They will become foster parents to the baby, although the probability of the chick's survival decreases; otherwise, care should be taken to feed the bird owner himself. The best candidates for this role will be Japanese finches, other types of parrots often refuse to accept a stranger, they can injure or peck him.

It is important for fledgling crumbs to maintain optimal temperature and humidity. To do this, periodically spray the nest with clean water. The temperature in it must be maintained at 33 ° C, lower or higher will cause death of birds. The process can be organized using a cardboard box, constantly warming up its bottom. You can put a warm towel, use an incubator with an adjusted mode that is optimal for chicks. From the twenty-first day, the thermoregulation of young animals is getting better, additional heating is not required.

Most experienced breeders advise feeding babies slightly diluted baby food warmed to 37 ° C.

With artificial feeding with the help of a cannula, food is poured not into the beak, but into the goiter, this will prevent the chick from choking on the contents. You can prepare this mixture: part baby food, two parts of a decoction of millet, one part of a decoction of oats, part of a solution with glucose, vitamins, amino acids.

Types of food

There are several types of feeding for newly hatched buds.

Use of a donor bird

This method is used by experienced breeders professionally engaged in breeding birds. The cereal mixture is fed into the parrot's goiter through a catheter, from where it is sucked out by a probe in digested form. A dangerous, but most effective type of food for artificial people, while all the substances necessary for life will enter the bird's body.

Feeding malt milk

Malt is prepared from the sprouted grains, crushed, filtered, mixed with water, egg until a pasty consistency is obtained. They are fed warmed up to 39 ° C. At a lower temperature, the mixture is not assimilated, it begins to ferment in the goiter, the bird dies of hunger. The higher temperature of the food will cause burns.

Porridge with added enzymes

You can feed the wavy with porridge, mixing mezim or festal. The exact dosage of the preparations should be observed, preferably with malted milk.

Feeding with ready-made mixtures

The most convenient way to feed the chicks. Special branded balanced ready-made feeds of good quality, for example, NutriBird A19 and A21, are diluted with warm water to the required density, taking into account the age of the young, and fed to babies. Birds receive the necessary components with such a daily diet: lactobacilli, enzymes, nutrients to promote health and growth, similar to those produced by the mother's goiter.

Dairy-free porridge

Buckwheat, oatmeal or corn porridge is cooked without milk, salt and sugar. You can feed the birds with dairy-free rice porridge. From the third day of life, the menu includes vegetable juices from carrots, pumpkins or beets. You can add a piece of egg yolk, rubbed through a sieve. From the tenth day, fruits are mixed in: banana, apple, low-fat cottage cheese.

On the twentieth day, they begin to feed the small bird from a spoon, try self-feeding, offering crushed sprouted grain to the budgerigar.

Whole grains are introduced from the age of thirty. Even if there is no one to show how it is, the chicks will learn to peck themselves after a while.

Water

When feeding birds with liquid cereals and mixtures, there is no need for water, with the exception of hot days. Over time, when the bird grows up and begins to feed on its own, clean filtered water should be constantly in the drinker.

How often to feed

Barely hatched wavies are fed every two hours, the night gap between meals is 4 hours. Gradually, the food is brought up to six times. From the twentieth day, food is given 4 times. The chick, which is 1 month old, is transferred to three meals a day. You should listen to the sounds emanating from the cage - hungry birds remind of themselves with a squeak. Starting from the 21st day of life, parrots overgrowing with plumage are fed, strictly observing the regime, sometimes doing it by force - they stop giving voice when they get hungry.

A sick adult parrot is fed more often.

You need to give food to the birds carefully, try not to oversaturate, take your time, watch that food does not flow out of the beak. It is better to teach to eat from a spoon. You should be patient - it won't work right away. At the same time, it is worth learning to eat only one chick on its own - the rest will follow its example. It is recommended to keep the syringe on hand for now - the parrot may be malnourished.

For artificial nutrition to cause fewer problems, you should follow some tips:

1. A one-time serving of food for wavy food is from 3 to 5 ml, you should not cook any more: the food turns sour, causes digestive disorders.
2. There is no need to add water to the birds: diluted mixtures contain a sufficient amount of liquid.
3. From the age of seven, fruit juices are introduced into the diet: thanks to them, immunity is strengthened, growth is accelerated.
4. In the cage, mineral food is required for the correct formation of the bird's skeleton. You can give coarsely grated chalk or eggshells. Lack or excess of minerals disrupt development, growth, sometimes lead to disease and even death.
5. Cereal mixtures are introduced from the moment the birds begin to sit on the poles or sit on the owner's finger. Semi-liquid or thick porridge is cooked, offering a choice.

With proper care and feeding, your pets will have a long, happy and fulfilling life. After studying all the recommendations, tips, you can save the life of a little chick. You can be sure: artificially fed birds are more tame and trainable, they start talking better and faster than those raised in the nest with their family.

Kira Stoletova

A chick, like a human child, needs maternal care. But there are situations in which he is torn off from her wing, for example, if he fell out of the nest. A person may well independently go out a fallen bird, picked up on the street, and, when the time comes, release him into the wild. Be sure to read the advice of professionals on how to raise chicks correctly and what not to do. The article tells how to feed a pigeon chick at home, if you are professionally engaged in rearing or simply warmed a feathered cub in your home.

Pigeons in the city

Have you ever wondered why almost no one saw pigeons? The fact is that adult pigeons prefer to nest away from human eyes in places safe from predators: on roofs, in bridges, in tree hollows and other depressions. The bird comes from the Mediterranean, and there nests in the rocks. In addition, pigeons abandon their homes forever if they are touched by a human hand.

This bird is one of the most popular on city streets around the world. Wild individuals live for about 5 years, and domesticated ones, with proper care, can last all 15.

A formed pair of pigeons builds a nest together: the male supplies material (branches, hay), and the dove equips the dwelling. Over time, the nest improves outwardly. The breeding season usually lasts from April to September, but may end later if the fall is warm. The female lays 1-2 eggs at a time and incubates them for 3 weeks. A hatched chick requires care, and if it turns out to be abandoned, only a person can save it: it is not customary for pigeons to pick up chicks that are not theirs.

How can you recognize a representative of pigeon offspring

A newborn has a yellow fluff on a pinkish body, a large beak (with the exception of short-billed breeds), bulging eyes. He is capable of flying from the age of one month, not earlier. Already at 1.5 months, a young bird is difficult to distinguish from an adult, except for the dullness of feathers and body density. The youngsters fly still uncertainly, the wingspan is rather weak.

So, you have equipped a corner in your house for a new tenant. But a lot of questions remain, the main of which is - what to feed the pigeon chick? What does he eat and how much food can you give him so as not to harm the fragile body?

Feeding start

If you have a newborn chick in your hands, it is important to immediately teach him to take water and food on his own. The most difficult thing is to feed the chicks of pigeons, which are one week old. Nature has laid down that during this period they need mother's milk. You need to try very hard to save the chick. Below is one of the algorithms for the first feeding.

• buy a 20-cube syringe at the pharmacy, put a nipple on top of it, you can use a pipette;
• egg yolk, rich in minerals necessary for the chick, or special grain, crushed to a state of gruel, is suitable as feed;
• gently inject the substance into the chick's beak, allowing it to process food as it eats.

This procedure must be repeated at least 6 times a day.

Second to third weeks

The first week was successfully overcome. During this period, the pigeon begins to grow stronger, his eyes open, he already hears the sounds of the world around him. Then you can begin to introduce grain into the diet in small portions. It can be millet, millet, barley, the main thing is that the grains are crushed and steamed, so that the feathered baby does not choke. As a source of calcium, add chalk or eggshells, ground on a coffee grinder, to the mixture. Greens should also be pre-chopped. Honey will be a useful addition. Poultry farmers also recommend treating your pet with nutritious sunflower seeds.

At the age of 20 days, the chicks of pigeons are weaned from the pipette and begin to feed by hand. To do this, you need to gently open the beak with your fingers and put food inside. If the chick resists, persist. Over time, he himself begins to be active and open his beak.

To make sure that the piglet is full, you need to feel its goiter (the area under the beak): if the bird has taken a sufficient amount of food, it will be full.

To water the cub, you need to take it in your hands and dip it into a container of water with its beak. After 2-3 times, he gets used to it and begins to quench his thirst on his own.

Birds are very sensitive to environmental conditions, so you must not forget to monitor the cleanliness of not only the cage, but also the feeders with a drinker, and regularly change the water in it.

Many people cannot pass by the birds that have fallen out of the nest and lost: if you decide to take care of such birds, the feeding should be of high quality - you can watch a variety of videos on this topic or use the recommendations provided. The birds will be grateful to you.

In spring, when all birds begin to acquire offspring, sometimes you can see chicks falling out of nests. Small, not fully fledged, yellow-haired babies look so defenseless and abandoned that it is simply impossible to pass by. Therefore, many people are in a hurry to take them with them in order to save the poor birds, warm them up and feed them.

If you found a sparrow chick and brought him home to go out, first you need to find a place for him where he will be. For this, a small box may be suitable, at the bottom of which you need to lay a cloth made of soft material. Place the foundling there and make sure that he cannot jump out of there. Very small chicks may need additional heating. For this, it is recommended to use a heating pad or a bottle filled with warm water.

So, you picked up a sparrow chick, brought it to your house, equipped temporary shelter and you are going to feed the birdie. Most importantly, one should not forget that the chicks of insectivorous birds eat food per day, which in volume is 3/4 of their weight. What do sparrows eat? Their diet in nature is based on small flies, worms, caterpillars, beetles and various larvae. Of course, it is advisable to feed the baby with these insects, but, unfortunately, it will be quite difficult to get them.

You need to know exactly what you can feed the sparrow. For example, under no circumstances should you feed a bird with bread. It can be given quite a bit, after soaking it in milk, no more than once every 2-3 days. The chick can be offered some boiled meat, which must be finely chopped and added with oatmeal or grains of some cereals.

Sparrow chick will eat vegetables too- cucumbers, carrots, beets. Before feeding them, you need to grind them finely and squeeze out excess juice. You can also feed your baby boiled egg and cottage cheese. It is very important to take into account that the food for him must be unsalted, since in no case should you give salt to the birds. You can supplement the diet by adding crushed chalk or coal, the chick will be happy to eat this supplement.

When you try to feed the bird, you need to try to do it so that the baby can eat on its own. But if this is not possible, he should be given food, first opening his beak with tweezers. This must be done very carefully so as not to damage the chick. If you are not sure that you can handle this task, it is better to ask someone else.

You need to feed your baby very often., once every 2 hours. Of course, this is very difficult and difficult, but if you wish, you can cope, because you will not allow the newly-made pet you picked up to die of hunger? And also do not forget that, in addition to food, there should always be fresh water near the bird.

Is it worth picking up a sparrow chick

Sparrow lifestyle

Sparrows- small and nimble birds, their cheerful chirping can always be heard on the street. Unlike their feathered counterparts, they do not wake up at dawn, but rather late in the morning. Birds love to gather in noisy groups. When spring comes and the time for breeding comes, males struggle for the best places for nests for a long time. When the house for future babies is ready, the female lays 4 to 6 eggs. When chicks are born, parents begin to worry about their food.

A sparrow chick is considered strong if it opens its beak wide when feeding. It is very rare, but there are such cases that parents who do not eat well are considered weak by their parents and thrown out of their house. But such an action on the part of these birds - big exception.

In most cases, chicks fall out of the nests and begin to learn to fly. The first attempts may be unsuccessful, but later the kids gain strength, and they succeed.

If you find a chick

Before you take home a little sparrow chick, you should seriously think about it, maybe you should still leave it where it was? Most likely, a “fledgling” fell out of the nest - a baby who began to learn to fly and makes his first attempts for this. And the parents of the bird are not far away at this moment, control him and will always be able to bring food to their child while he is on the ground and will not get stronger.

Taking care of such a baby at home is quite problematic, and many chicks can simply die if not properly cared for or fed. If there are no dogs or cats nearby, it is better to bring and place a feeder with food where the fallen cub is. And also do not forget that birds that have grown in captivity can quickly die after they are released to live on the street.

If you find a nest full of small and yellow-mouthed babies, and we are sure that their parents will no longer come, and you really want to help the poor orphans, you can try to feed these chicks. If desired, feeding such birds is a completely solvable task, you just need to first learn more about such babies so as not to inadvertently harm them.

Feeding instruction

First of all, you will definitely come in handy:

• pipette;
• tweezers;
• disposable syringes;
• birdseed.

Now you can start feeding. To do this, you need to do:

You already know that if you accidentally see chicks in the spring, it is better not to pick them up. But it may happen that you accidentally find, say, a very small sparrow with a broken leg, or there is some other damage, and he is completely helpless, then, of course, he will need to be helped and taken care of.

If the chick is not yet fully fledged, it needs to be heated... You need to put the baby in a warm and small bag. To do this, use an old mitten or woolen sock. Watch carefully to keep him warm at all times. After that, you can try to feed the found baby.

Sparrow chick feeding sequence

You will need:

• insects (flies, beetles);
• tweezers.

The following actions will proceed like this:

1. such a baby needs to be fed every hour with tweezers with a variety of insects, flies, spiders, worms, small beetles are suitable. You can try some at the pet store, such as mealworm larvae. You will need a lot of feed, so try giving also a boiled egg, minced meat;
2. when the sparrow opens its beak wide, use tweezers to put an insect in the bird's mouth, which it will subsequently swallow;
3. if the baby does not eat himself yet, he does not need to be given water, as it is dangerous and he may choke. Feed him mushy food with a pipette. When he gets a little stronger and starts eating on his own, put water in a drinking bowl next to him so that the sparrow chick can drink at will;
4. do not worry about overfeeding your little pet, as the metabolism of birds is very fast and they need a lot of food. It is recommended to feed babies often and little by little, and if the chick eats a large amount of food, but rarely, this will have a very negative effect on its health.